Jarvis
Scenario
Implementation of Oracle Financials.
Situation
Charteris was asked to undertake a four-month assignment to guide a major
UK infrastructure company through the implementation phase
of an Oracle Financials system. This system represented
the first major element in the company's business transformation
programme. The Charteris brief included:
- An initial assessment of the risks associated with the fifteen month development project
- The development and execution of a programme plan to support the new system produced by the project
- Offering guidance as required to the client's own IT and central financial service operations
Charteris Role
During the first two months, the Charteris' programme manager helped the
IT department to prepare for going live, and by taking
on day-to-day management of part of the programme. It
later became necessary to establish a team of client staff
who could support the live system. Other areas requiring
attention were acceptance criteria, a major network upgrade,
help desk and knowledge bank facilities, the roll-out
of the desktop functionality to users and system performance
testing.
After going live, the Charteris' consultant focussed on:
- Developing and guiding the programme to support the 'steady-state' situation
- The set-up, skills and training of the support team
- Transferring knowledge and procedures from the project to end-users
- System/network performance and disaster recovery plans.
Solution
An intermediate review determined that the project was being driven very
effectively towards its go-live date, which was successfully
achieved. An important element of the Charteris contribution
then became the management of the risks associated with
the drive to achieve timely implementation.
The client was delighted with Charteris' contribution to the project
and commented that the consultant "brought clarity
to the normal welter of competing agendas that surround
a big project like this...during a very hectic period".